'Owling Good Time!

OK - so this isn't the post I was expecting to be doing this weekend - we were, after all, supposed to be in Somerset once more at BAH, bringing back the last of the stuff and closing it up for the last time..... but sometimes, things happen beyond your control!

I arrived home from work on Friday, to find Paul in a terrible state of emotion. If you were to take Victor Meldrew (BBC TV sitcom One Foot in the Grave) and mix him with the Incredible Hulk, you would pretty much have it!

The electrics on the trailer had finally given up the ghost and therefore we had no lights or indicators - this put the trailer out of action, Paul ready to kill and screaming 'I don't believe it' every 2 seconds, and ranting about every time he wanted to use the trailer something happened.
Needless to say, there was no point in making the journey without the trailer, so we stayed put and I poured a large glass of Red for Paul and a nice Gin and Lemonade for me, whilst the Italian meatballs and Pasta heated through in the oven!

Saturday came around, and we headed over the Falmouth to see if Paul could get the spare parts to fix the lights at Trago, and so we decided to do the weekly shop in Asda as it was nearest to Trago on the Falmouth outskirts.

When we arrived I spotted something that I knew I would want to write about!

The Screech Owl Sanctuary, were outside with some of their little feathered stars, collecting donations for their Owl Hospital.

The birds were beautiful, and having made my donation to the cause, I got out my trusty mobile phone so I could use it's camera, as the real camera was still at home on recharge, and snapped a couple of shots....being on a mobile they may not be the best pictures in the world, but they do show these beautiful creatures off quite well.

Wylie the Barn Owl, came over to see me with his handler and was so white and fluffy - gorgeous...

the little chap above, I thought was a baby, but it turns out he is an old man of 10 years!

Although Aztec and Freedom did not come over and meet me in person, they both watched on warily

in fact, one of the Dads that was looking on with his children, likened Aztec to the grumpy owl from Winnie the Pooh.... What do you think? I think maybe he was right LOL

and as far as Freedom was concerned? He showed us exactly what he thought - look below his perch! LOL

And so, despite not getting away, a pretty ordinary trip to the shops, turned into a wonderful experience.

I wonder what we'll see next week?

BAH Quickie!

We had decided that we needed to get up to our BAH to bring back some of the 'wonderful' stuff that we had accumulated over the years so that it was presented in a better light for it's sale.

I got home from work on Friday at about 14.15 and by 14.30 we were on the road, with the trailer on the back of the car so that we could make the trip worthwhile and reduce the number of times we would need to return before it sold.

We arrived at 18:00 following a clear and uneventful drive up the A30 and M5, and proceeded to fill some of the boxes that we had taken up with us, whilst our Lasagne cooked away in the oven.

Luckily we had taken a lot back at the end of last season, as we knew that we would be selling, and so it was all sparkly and clean and easy to empty shelves straight into boxes.

The numerous DVD's and video tapes went in, and then the videos came out again and found their way to the bin!

The books filled about 3 boxes, and the spare linen and towels went into old suitcases that we had left up there.

We stacked the car up, with the lovely little mini tumble dryer we had bought from my friend Mandy last year in the boot of the car (this will be used with the tourer instead) and Paul's old mountain bike on the bike rack on the boot of the car.

Saturday morning came around to brilliant sunshine once more, and we took Fred for a wander through the site, spotting a couple who were obviously looking at buying a van.

mmmmm! I dashed back and made the bed (well it was still quite early!) and did a quick tidy around, just as they pulled up outside and asked if we would mind them having a quick look around. Brilliant we said - no problem!

Unfortunately they wanted a 3 bedroomed van not a 2, but at least they looked so this is promising.

The trailer got filled and hooked up and it was time for us to come back..... after a few hours rest and relaxation.

The journey home on Sunday morning was just as free and easy as the drive up, helped by the beautiful weather we are having at the moment.

We shall be returning next weekend for the last few remnants of items, and with any luck it will sell quickly so that we can start to use the little touring van, and discover more out our beautiful Cornwall.

It is such a shame to know that this wonderful little Blue Anchor Hideaway will no longer be ours to use as we want to, but it is time to move on and explore some new areas of the beautiful English countryside.

I'm going all Barbara Good!

Is it just me feeling very old, or do you all remember The Good Life..... yes it was back in 1975 that it was first aired, but just to remind you, I have borrowed this lovely picture of Barbara and Tom Good, along with Margo and Jerry Leadbetter

Barbara was the one who was always in dungaree's and covered in mud from her vegetable patch!

Anyway - I have wanted to try growing my own veg since we moved to Cornwall, and decided that this Spring it was going to happen...

You will remember that I bought a cloche from Trago, when Karen was visiting, and we built it up tonight so that I could get started

I had bought, peas, beans, carrots and onion seeds, whilst at Trago, and when I went out tonight for my compost and grow bag I could not resist some young little shoots that were 4 for £5 from my friends Mr B and Mrs Q LOL

I planted the seeds in large pots to prevent having to pot them on later, but I fully expect to have to do some thinning out, and then realised I would not remember what was what, so got out my trusty marker pen to write on the pots

It was then time to put the little seedlings into the grow bag for further nurturing

I had bought iceberg lettuce, cabbage, cauliflour and sprouts - all of which are regularly eaten by us, so with any luck will be very useful once they have grown

Having watered them all in, I put them to bed, like a worried mother, wondering how soon it will be before I notice some results...

Fingers crossed for a good harvest eh!

Sunday Run

For the first time in a long time, we decided to join a 5 drive as there was a run in our local area with the MX-5 owners club.

We all met up at the Gold Centre, Treasure Park, in Portreath, and headed off up the coast road toward Hayle

and onwards, we made a loo stop in Marazion, overlooking St Michaels Mount, and took the chance of another chat and some photo's

and then it was on once more, through Penzance, and up to Zennor, finally stopping at the Tyringham Arms for lunch.

We had decided that we would only stay with the drive until lunchtime, to keep the cost of the fuel down, and so, along with Sally~Ann and Mike, headed back up the coast road towards Godrevy.

On arrival we finally found a couple of parking spots on the National Trust land and set our camp chairs up for a mini picnic of sandwiches and fruit, before heading our separate ways home, and back to let our dogs out for a wander in their gardens.

It was a lovely day, made even better by the glorious sunshine.

Family Fun

Karen, Paul's big little sister came down from Birmingham for a few days this week/weekend and said she fancied a trip over to Falmouth. And so, that being one of our favourite places, we jumped at the chance to take her over.

Once we arrived we headed over to Trago for the obligatory purchase of some bargains - in this case a collapsible cloche and some vegetable seeds (peas, french beans, carrots and onions). Having dropped these back at the car, we then headed on to the 'yacht club' for tea and teacakes - YUM. We sat and watched the world go round for a while and then headed up through the town to the pier to see the view up the estuary

Pictured are Paul, and his big little sister, Karen and his little little sister, Jannah-Beth

From Falmouth we headed on to Marazion and St Michaels Mount

and then on towards Penzance for a mooch around some shops before finally heading back up the coast road from Hayle and on through Portreath

It ended up being quite a long day, but well worth it, and the weather was just glorious. A great weekend for Karen to choose to visit.

A Date with Arthur.... That's KING Arthur!

It's Bank Holiday, and as everyone knows, you HAVE to do something exciting and intellectual on a Bank Holiday..... well something like that anyway!

Having had a lazy lie in and finally getting up at 8.15 (Yes that's over a 2 hour lie in for me!), I got onto the trusty lap top to get some ideas for today's educational day out.... I came up with Tintagel

Having called Sally~Ann and Mike to see if they fancied joining us, we headed on up the Atlantic Highway for the beautiful village of Tintagel.

For those of you that don't know, Tintagel is the place that many Arthurians believe is the site of the famed Camelot, the main residence of King Arthur and Guinevere during the days of the Round Table, and the magical wonders of Merlin.

me being a romantic, have always chosen to believe that Camelot is in our beautiful Cornish county, but despite this, I have never yet actually walked up to the Castle itself and had a good look around. Today is the day that this was to change, and more importantly it was to be a first for Sally~Ann and Mike too, as they had not been to Tintagel before.

After the very steep walk down to the cove, we then had the ridiculous climb up extremely steep steps (about 100 of them) to the ruins of the Castle

Once at the top I headed for the nearest resting point and collapsed in a writhing ball of pain and exhaustion - yes I am a wimp and yes I am extremely unfit, having not been able to do any Pilate's for a while

The ruins were very impressive, however not on the grand scale that I was expecting for the fabled Camelot

and as we looked back through the ruins we realised there were more across the water, but first we needed to climb down the 100 steps we had just managed to scale, and then climb up another 100 plus on the opposite side of the water

as it was, the side we had climbed first had the majority of the buildings of interest, and after a further climb up the headland we came to the chapel and the ladies gardens, amongst other buildings

On the way back down, Sally~Ann spotted this sign about Sir Richard - the steps he is sitting on are where I collapsed on the way in LOL

The headland behind me, in the picture below, is where we have to be for the other part of the Castle

Unfortunately, the walk down did us all in and we decided to get a coffee, but brave Paul went on up the other side and reported back to us - thankfully we did not miss too much, except the fact that he nearly collapsed and turned blue at the top of the steps - good choice on our part not to go with him we decided!

These are the pictures he got for us once up there

Hopefully from this signage you can see the extent of the area that is covered by the Castle

On the climb back up to the village (at which point I had to be pulled by Paul as I was knaggered), Sally~Ann purchase a postcard for a certain couple and posted it in the famous Old Post Office of Tintagel, especially for them

All in all it was a great day, the weather was kind to us, the skies stayed blue until we got to the car, and even if the wind was whipping up a tornado up top by the castle, it was really refreshing ans blew away all of those winter cobwebs.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Happy Easter to all of my friends, family and followers

Don't eat them all at once! I'll give you a hand shall I? LOL ... x

Lands End Trial

Since moving to Cornwall 3 years ago, Paul has been trying to attend the Blue Hill section of the London to Lands End Trial, which it run by the Motor Cycling Club. Despite being run by a Motor Cycle club, this event is open to Motor Cycles, Side Cars, Three Wheelers, and cars of any capacity.
The Blue Hills section of the Trial is challenging to say the least, and the steep inclines can sometimes prove too much of a match for some of the vehicles and they can need help being pulled up or out!

but this does not stop the hardened drivers and their little motors!

Blue Hills is found at the seaward end of the Trevellas Valley on the North Coast of Cornwall, and is covered in gorse and heather. This particular areas has been producing tin for many many years To Paul's amazement a chap appeared in an MX-5, and made a really good attempt, managing about half way up Blue Hills, an excellent result considering some cars fell at the first hurdle!

Having watched him for a while, Paul had to compliment him and ask if he minded some pictures being taken..... Too bad he could not get him to become a Cornwall MX-5 Club member at the same time eh!

The above picture shows a motor bike and an old MG. The MG did not make it, and had to be towed up, and the guy on the bike took a really bad fall and then had problems starting the bike up again. He finally managed it and completed the climb, achieving a huge cheer from the watching crowd.

The older bikes all seemed to do pretty well and we are sure that this chap also made it to the top

It was a really messy day, with the rain and wind against him all the time, but it was worth it for the views and the atmosphere

At last Paul had managed to attend this fantastic day, and, providing the weather is good next year, I shall be there with him cheering on the drivers in their next attempt.